The B-52's - Funplex
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Free Music Notes for Funplex
Free Music Review: They've Still Got It
Hit: 5 Stars
The B-52s have been recording for over 30 years now and with "Funplex" they amazingly manage to maintain their artistic integrity, successfully combining their trademark quirkiness with a definitely modern sound.
"Pump" is a more-than-appropriate opener as it kicks into high-gear immediately. The guitar hook makes you almost feel like Ricky Wilson is still alive, and the whole song has a somewhat "darker" edge to it.
"Hot Corner" is this album's "Love Shack", a great party tune with fun lyrics such as "Hey y'all, last call, last chance to dance". Fred and the girls work together perfectly here.
"Ultraviolet" seems a bit unfocused and all over the map upon first listen, but it does grow on you. Who can resist Fred singing "Keep doing what you're doing cause you're doing it right"?
"Juliet of the Spirits" is perhaps my favorite song on this CD. It is one of two low-key tracks here where Kate and Cindy really shine. Their harmonies are so perfectly dreamy, it almost makes you feel as though you are levitating. There are definitely elements of "Dirty Back Road" apparent in this track, which may explain why I like it so much.
Cindy Wilson really stands out in the title track, "Funplex" which also features some of the funniest lyrics on the CD. "Faster Pussycat, thrill, thrill", and "I'm your daytime waitress, here's your stupid 7-UP".
Interesting techno intros make way for more great Kate/Cindy harmonies on both "Eyes Wide Open" and the futuristic "Love in the Year 3000".
The second of my favorite tracks is the laid-back and soothing "Deviant Ingredient" [see also "Juliet of the Spirits"]. Even the usually-manic Fred sounds like he popped a valium before recording this. We even get a clever helicopter sound effect. The strings on the outro remind me a little of Madonna's "Don't Tell Me".
"Too Much to Think About" is perhaps the most commercial-sound you will find on "Funplex", but it may be my least favorite.
Fred seems somewhat subdued on "Dancing Now" which features memorable bells and chimes, reminiscent of "Give Me Back My Man" from "Wild Planet". Also, there are times on this track where Kate's voice possesses some grittiness and sounds somewhat like Cindy.
The closing track is the rocking "Keep This Party Going" where Fred calls out to major world cities (of course, their native Athens, GA gets top billing). Its rocking vibe is a good way to bookend the CD.
Not many groups with their original members intact can manage to sound fresh enough to capture new fans yet still keep their loyal 30-year fanbase. The B-52s must be praised for maintaining their signature sound yet adapting to today's music scene.
Though less frantic than their first two albums, "Funplex" has more in common with those than with middle-period B's like "Cosmic Thing" and is highly recommended.
Free Music Review: The B's White Album
Hit: 5 Stars
Only the B-52's could come back with a record after 16 years, when they're all in their 50's, that focuses on sex and romance! This is the best new release I've heard in ages. Funplex manages to combine the quirky lyrics and dance beats that made fans fall in love with them over the past 3 decades with some cool, now sounds like driving rock guitars and funky electronic grooves. It is easily both their most unusual(for them) and most accessible album. The first six tracks on the disc will have you shaking your booty and creating your own in-home funk-a-thon. After that, things get a bit experimental. The tracks:
1. Pump: this is a delicious slice of chaotic rock that will have you pumping and jumping. Love the way Kate sings about "mama."
2. Hot Corner: this rocked out jam will have you dancing in your room until you're out of breath.
3. Ultraviolet: a tune with a hyper rock vibe that is fun and funky.
4. Juliet of the Spirits: a fan fave, a shimmering techno love fest in which the girls admonish a friend to come out of her shell and really live life.
5. Funplex: the first single, a funky, funny, mid-tempo dance/rock number that will have you laughing and singing along. "Lady? What lady?"
6. Eyes Wide Open: my favorite song on this album. This is absolutely incredible and tough to describe. Starting out as an ominous, stark techno experiment, it gradually builds into an all-out dance frenzy that will have you shakin' it like crazy. I love Kate's refrain: "I don't want to clash, I don't want to re-hash the past, I just want release."
7. Love in the Year 3000: The verses are odd and experimental, with Fred talking about different kinds of robots. The choruses are catchy with the girls exquisite harmonies. It's an interesting and addictive combo.
8. Deviant Ingredient: The closest thing on the album to a ballad, the song is lush and sensual, a bit on the commercial-sounding side, but the female vocals on the choruses are hard to resist, and the song builds to a somewhat rocking climax. Sort of like a peppy chill out song.
9. Too Much To Think About: This is the only song on the album that I don't like. The different parts of music and vocals just don't work. It felt flat to me.
10. Dancing Now: A really cool ditty that harkens back to the B-52's garage/punk origins, with Fred barking out verses while the girls sing verses behind him. It's a great effect.
11. Keep This Party Going: While not the best song on the CD, this is a fun and warmly felt tune that is the perfect album ender. Leaves the listener with a happy, party friendly glow.
If you like fun, danceable, quirky music, buy this now!
Free Music Review: Ego-Free Vitality in an Age of Exhaustion and Angst
Hit: 5 Stars
The music of the B-52's, for me, has always been an acoustic narcotic. Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson have got to be the two most emotive singers I have ever heard (Mahalia Jackson comes in a pretty close second), and they contrast beautifully, the former being the tortured one (think "Hero Worship," "Give Me Back My Man," or "Ain't It A Shame") while the latter is all sunshine and positivity (think "Revolution Earth" or "Housework"). Fred Schneider is Fred Schneider; he can't sing and he can't dance, and he's brilliant at both.
Keith Strickland has the impossible job of compensating for the absence of Ricky Wilson, and it has to be said that he is the main brain behind the reinvention of the band. In his minimalism, Ricky Wilson was a fantastic guitarist. "Funplex" is the first post-Ricky album to capture the riff-happy playfulness of his style, and the album has a buoyancy and lift that "Cosmic Thing" and (especially) "Good Stuff" lack. It seems Strickland has learned from Ricky Wilson to keep it simple, straightforward, and energized.
There is nothing around today that sounds this exuberant. I'm thrilled that the B-52's are back, but it is something of a sad commentary that music nowadays, for the most part, simply isn't fun like this. Just because it's "party music" doesn't mean it isn't or can't be important (think Motown during the early 1960s). Yes, the B-52's are political (not that Amazon is the place to make that argument).
When I heard Steve Osborne was producing, I cringed a bit. He was ideal for New Order, but the B-52's sensibility seemed antithetical to the extremely polished tendencies of Osborne. I was totally wrong; Keith Strickland's choice to work with him was a stroke of genius (if only other vintage acts would make such a move). Osborne and the band really meet each other halfway, a truly inspired collaboration.
To really appreciate the production value of the album, you need to listen to it in full stereo on a more-than-decent system (it sounds muddy in my car and overly compressed on my mp3 player).
It amazes me how some people make their minds up so quickly, and have decided that the album is something of a letdown without really letting it grow on them. Remember, it took "Cosmic Thing" months to catch on. I have found that the more I've listened to it, the better it has gotten. The songs I initially didn't care for ("Dancing Now," "Deviant Ingredient") have become my favorites. Just no pleasing those dimestore critics out there, I guess.
I don't mean to sound greedy, but this can't be their last album...
Free Music Review: The B-52's still rule . . . . .
Hit: 5 Stars
The 80's are long gone, cheap gas is just a memory, America is deindustrialized and on the brink of financial ruin . . . . . but one thing remains the same . . . . . the B-52's still rule, and do they ever.
I've been listening to "Funplex" on AOL (streaming the entire album) until the CD is released, watching the YouTube videos (Benicassim 2007) and my best friend and I were fortunate enought to see the B-52's live at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC last August where they performed some of the "Funplex" songs. The 16 year wait was worth it because this album/CD is just awesome, I can't stop listening to it. From the vibrant "Pump" and "Funplex" and the techno-futuristic "Love in the Year 3000" to the hauntingly beautiful "Juliet of the Spirits", there isn't a bad song to be found here.
Most of the CD's I buy I usually end up ripping the one or two good songs I really like to my hard drive or compilation CD and storing the original away, but "Funplex" will be played in it's entirety along with a very few others . . . . . "Blown to Smithereens" (The Smithereens), "The Aqua Velvets" (The Aqua Velvets) and "In Time: The Best of REM. 1988-2003" (REM). "Getting some platinum action" is the probably the only way to have more "fun" than listening to "Funplex".
The B-52's just get better with age, Keith is just incredible on the guitar, Fred is so cool and so funny, Kate has a voice to die for and seems to be having more fun than ever, and Cindy . . . . . what more can I say about Cindy, the goddess from Athens (Athens, GA although she would be perfectly at home on Mount Olympus). I've been in love with Cindy for a long time, she is enough to make a gay guy go straight . . . . . almost. If you want to see an uber-cool flashback of Cindy, Ricky and the rest of the B's, check out the YouTube video of "Give Me Back My Man" (Rare video and the full verson...B-52's new wave 80's), it will bring a smile to your face and tears to your eyes.
That's the only bad thing about "Funplex", Ricky isn't a part of it . . . . . but I have to believe he's looking down with a big smile on his face. He must be very proud of his little sister and his friends.
One final note, if you want to learn more about The B-52's and the music scene in Athens that gave rise to the B's, REM and Pylon, check out the DVD "Athens GA. Inside/Out".
Free Music Review: They are in top form!
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember being just a kid when I saw them on SNL doing "Rock Lobster," back in '79 or '80, and thinking at the time "they're really weird." I wasn't an instant fan, but felt oddly drawn to them. Over the years, I took notice of their more mainstream stuff (I was rather sheltered and never sought out music that I wasn't rather mundanely exposed to), such as I'd see on MTV, and as of "Cosmic Thing" I began to check out more of their older stuff and have considered myself a fan for a few years now.
However, nothing prepared me for what I'd feel with upon hearing this magnificent CD. I don't think I have ever loved an entire album so much upon the first listen, and "infectious" (to quote another reviewer) is an entirely appropriate adjective for this collection of songs.
I find it to be the perfect blend of their early, raw party sound, and the more highly-produced sound of their later years. This is classic, prime B-52s here, folks; it doesn't get any better than this. The songs from this CD stay with me even after I've stopped listening to them (which, I admit, can be maddening if one is in a circumstance--such as at work--where the CD can't be played).
I find that the best venue for this CD is in a car with a great stereo system, on a sunny-day highway. It is the ultimate road-trip music, and I can't help but crank it up so loud that I fear I'll blow out my speakers. And that is saying a lot: I'm about to turn 41 and I very rarely do that (or even feel like doing that). So thank you, B-52s, for staying the course and doing what you do best: making great, uplifting, bizarre and fun music that inevitably makes people move and smile. This is one of the rare bands that just keeps improving with age, and I can't help but wonder if or how they could top this terrific CD. BRAVO!!